Will Rahul’s Yatra and Kharge’s elevation blunt BJP’s anti-Congress campaign?

Two prongs which dominate the BJP's anti-Congress stand are dynasty politics and their absence on the ground. With Bharat Jodo in full swing and Kharge — a seasoned politician — as party president, the BJP's attack may have weakened.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s high-pitched campaign against the Congress and the condemnation of its policies have overwhelmingly been mounted on the axis of dynastic politics and the Gandhi family’s hold over the grand old party. The BJP, which blames the Congress for propagating hereditary succession, has made the fight against dynastic politics the mainstay of its electioneering, notwithstanding instances of kin of its party leaders being picked to contest polls and for positions of power.

While a section of BJP leaders has dissed the election as posturing and labelled Kharge a stand-in for the Gandhis, some leaders said that the appointment cannot be summarily dismissed. (PTI)

However, the election of the 80-year-old Mallikarjun Kharge as the new Congress president on September 19 — along with the enthusiastic response that Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India march) is eliciting — could blunt the sharpness of the BJP’s attack and the accusation that only a Gandhi family member can be elevated to the top position.

The BJP’s campaign against dynasty is led from the top. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has on several occasions flagged the issue of dynastic politics and how it wrecks polity and merit by its merit promoting only a handful of families. At the BJP’s national executive committee meeting in Hyderabad in July, underlining the pitfalls of dynastic politics, he said that parties that followed the succession model are now on the verge of perishing.

Targeting Dynasty

In a blog post shared in March 2019, the PM took a swipe at the Congress for lacking internal democracy. “Political parties are vibrant bodies that manifest diverse public opinion. Sadly, Congress does not believe in internal democracy. If a leader dares to dream to head that party, he or she is shunted out of the Congress,” he wrote.

In a stinging reference to the allegation of financial irregularities against the Gandhis linked to the National Herald newspaper, he wrote, “The sense of entitlement can be seen in their conduct towards routine legal processes. At present, their top leadership is on bail vis-à-vis a major scam. When the authorities seek to question them on their dealings, they do not even bother to reply. Are they scared of accountability or do they not believe in it?”

With the election of a new party president, the Congress is hopeful of taking the sting out of the BJP’s acerbic charges against the party in general and the Gandhi family in particular.

While a section of BJP leaders has dissed the election as posturing and labelled Kharge — a long-term lawmaker and Dalit leader — a stand-in for the Gandhis, some leaders said that the appointment cannot be summarily dismissed.

“The BJP’s main criticism was that the Gandhi family will not allow elections or the president will be nominated to keep the seat warm for the family. Though Kharge is seen as the Gandhi family pick, his background in politics, his acumen as a lawmaker, and his caste can swing things in the party’s favour,” said a senior BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Eyes on the Yatra

The BJP’s response to the Bharat Jodo Yatra has also been predictably dismissive; though it is closely watching the developments and the public reaction to the Yatra, which has so far covered Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka and has now entered Telangana. The BJP leader quoted above admitted that the outreach has garnered eyeballs and has the potential to change the grammar of contemporary politics.

The leader said the Yatra that is spurring the cadre, which has been demotivated after a slew of election defeats since the 2014 general election, is also helping resurrect the Congress and can help it edge past the other Opposition parties that are wary of joining forces with it, even as they try and cobble an anti-BJP coalition.

“It would be misleading to say that there is no space for the Congress or that the anti-BJP constituency has shrunk. There has always been a strong anti-BJP vote and this Yatra is pitching the Congress as an alternative to those parties that the voters don’t necessarily think can take on the BJP,” the leader said.

The Yatra, which is being keenly watched for the response it will evoke in the Hindi heartland states, is also being compared by a few to similar exercises that were undertaken by former PM Chandra Shekhar in 1983, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, and YSR Congress Party leader Jagan Mohan Reddy to resurrect their parties.

A former parliamentarian, who was part of Chandra Shekhar’s Bharat Yatra, said, “Chandra Shekhar set out on foot to take on a formidable opponent, Indira Gandhi. The Janata Party was in a state of flux, it was headed for a split with one faction led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Yet, the response was good, and in Karnataka, people thronged to hear him. The Yatra helped Chandra Shekhar resurrect his party and also made him humbler. The language of arrogance was sublimated and he learnt how to recognise contradictions and how to resolve them.”

The Yatra — being largely apolitical — will be an added advantage for the Congress, he added. “We do not know what the outcome will be politically, but the masses appreciate leaders who make an effort. This is a non-controversial yatra, which has no polarising undertone and is ostensibly an attempt to unite people and allow Gandhi to familiarise himself with the country so no one can pick holes in this. And how the BJP reacts to it, will set the narrative going forward,” the former MP said.

In election-bound Karnataka, the BJP countered the Congress outreach with its own Jan Sankalpa Yatra, to highlight welfare schemes and achievements of the BJP government at the central and in the state.

Will the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Kharge’s appointment change the Congress’ political fortunes?

Political commentator and vice-chancellor of the Jagran Lakecity University, Sandeep Shastri said, the Yatra that comes after eight years of the Congress being out of power is an innovative way of galvanising the cadre and addressing the issue of leadership drift.

“What remains to be seen is if Gandhi can sustain it till the end and whether this 30-metre race will convert into a marathon and reap electoral dividends for the Congress,” he said.